Painter William Barr pursued an art career in Scotland before settling permanently in San Francisco. He was born in Glasgow and from 1895–98 studied at the Glasgow School of Art. He then trained at the Royal College of Art in London and, in 1904, at the Académie Julian in Paris.

For the next 10 years, Barr taught at the Paisley School of Art and Design in Glasgow. He visited California in 1912 but did not decide to remain permanently until after visiting the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. He worked in a studio on Lyon Street in San Francisco, primarily painting landscapes, but he also produced genre scenes, portraits and figure studies, still lifes, and architectural studies.

Barr painted many of his landscapes while outdoors. Some of these paintings, particularly his scenes of California wildflowers, showcased the light and color of Impressionism. Others, such as this evocative, twilight view of Marin County, manifested the moody influence of Tonalism, the prevailing aesthetic in Northern California at the time.